House Votes to Block $450 Million in Military Aid to Pakistan

Another amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the massive annual military spending bill, has been passed in the House of Representatives. This one blocks the dispersal of $450 million in military aid to Pakistan.

Congress has been moving in this direction for weeks, and the State Department warned Pakistan last week that the aid would almost certainly be conditioned on a military offensive against the Haqqani Network, an oft-targeted militant faction in North Waziristan.

This was indeed the case, as the amendment from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R – CA) indeed demands that President Obama publicly certify that Pakistan has attacked the Haqqanis before any of the military aid can be released.

Earlier this month, Congress put the planned sale of F-16s to Pakistan on hold, saying Pakistan would only be allowed to have them if they paid for them. Pakistan, assuming they’d get them as part of the aid package, cancelled the deal.